Into The Storm
by gryffindorwriter
Summary: Peter Stone couldn't help what he was feeling towards Anna Valdez. He wasn't sure what it was about her - whether it was her ambition, her fight, or even something he hadn't uncovered yet. But one thing was for sure. He was definitely falling for her. A Staldez Story based on the two characters in Chicago Justice!
1. Chapter 1 - Something About Her

**A/N: I know that quite a lot of people don't ship these two, and of course it's only early days as well so there's still so much more to see. But, even in the six episodes we've seen so far, there's definitely something between them. I wanted to explore it and that's where this came from! I hope you enjoy it. Make sure you review and all that! (And if you read my other fanfiction, Fresh Eyes, there's a little sneak peak of the next chapter hidden in here somewhere...)**

* * *

Peter Stone couldn't help but notice Anna flinching with every gunshot as they watched the body cam video from their latest case. When she stood up and excused herself quietly from the room, he frowned and instantly wanted to follow her out to check if she was all right.

As soon as it was sensible for him to follow her, he did. She was back at her desk, frantically typing something on her computer. He stood in front of her desk, his hands in his pockets as he looked down at her.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Valdez?" He asked.

Anna looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "No, why?" She frowned.

With a look, Peter gestured to his office and walked ahead, taking a seat behind his desk. Anna followed him inside, closing the door behind her and taking a seat on the other side of Peter's desk, where she usually sat when they spoke.

"What is it, Peter?" Anna frowned again, crossing her arms.

He sighed and shook his head. "Don't think that I didn't notice you leaving the room when we watched that video back, Anna," he said. "You were flinching with every gunshot. So, tell me what's going on."

"It's nothing," Anna shrugged, looking down at the ground. "Honestly. I'm just a little spooked, still, after what happened with Kinzie. It's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine in a few more days. It just hasn't been very long since..."

She trailed off, letting her eyes trail back up to Peter and seeing the pitying look on his face. "Peter, really. It's nothing to worry about! Can I go back to work now? Please."

He sighed and looked briefly down at her desk. "Have you spoken to someone about it, Anna? Dr. Charles over at Med, maybe? Even Dr. Reese."

Anna hesitated before slowly nodding. "I saw someone on Tuesday night about it all. I'm going back next week," she confirmed. "I'm cleared for work, Peter. You don't have to worry about me all the time."

Stone chuckled at her. "What else am I supposed to do, Anna? Ignore it?"

She shrugged at him. "Well, yeah," she nodded.

He sighed and shook his head. "You can go back to your desk," he began. "But Anna - if you ever need to talk to someone here, my door is always open for you."

* * *

Anna closed the door of her apartment after her, sighing. She'd had a busy day and wasn't afraid to admit that she was exhausted. They'd been working on the case until late at night and none of them had left the office until it was well past dark. Usually, Anna didn't mind staying at work late, but after the accident with Kinzie, she preferred not to wander around outside when it was dark.

Maybe it was the thought that, at first, she'd thought she was the one about to be shot when she left the bar with Ray. She knew that she was scared of the sound of gunshots now because of that. And, of course, because of what happened to Ray.

What if she'd been with him when the man had fired the shots?

It could have easily been her. Even if she wasn't the one being targeted. What if she hadn't walked away from him when she did? What if she'd been shot too?

She hadn't realised that her head had fallen into her hands as her anxiety got worse, thought after thought. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and drafted out a quick text to Peter.

 _Anna Valdez: Might have to take advantage of that open door tomorrow..._

* * *

The office was quiet when Anna walked in the next morning. She'd slept uneasily, but it wasn't too big of a deal. It was going to be a slow day anyway - the trial wasn't for a few more days, luckily.

She sent a smile to Laura as she headed to her desk. "Morning, Laura," Anna said, pulling off her coat and hanging it over the back of her chair. "Did you have a good night?"

Laura nodded at her. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad. What about you?"

With a shrug, Anna spoke again. "It was good, yeah. I'm still tired, though," she chuckled, sitting down in her chair. She spotted Laura's coffee on her desk and instantly wished she'd picked one up on the way in.

"Who isn't tired at this time of the morning?" Laura scoffed, turning back to her computer. "It's an ungodly hour, but unfortunately, it's one I have to deal with."

Anna couldn't help but laugh at Laura's words - she agreed with them. "Where's Antonio this morning?" She asked, logging into her computer quickly.

Laura shrugged. "I think he's treating his girlfriend to something special. I mean, he asked me how to fix a crumbling relationship yesterday. I didn't give him any good advice, but I'd guess that's what he's up to this morning. He mentioned something about pancakes last night, but I have no idea what that means."

Antonio had been dating Sylvie Brett - one of the paramedics from over at Firehouse 51 - for a few months now. Anna didn't know too much about them, only that they'd gotten together while there was a threat on her life. It seemed very dramatic, but Anna didn't want to delve into the details.

She was friends with Sylvie, though. Antonio had introduced the two of them at Molly's only a few weeks ago and Anna had found Sylvie nice enough. While, she did admit, that she found it slightly amusing for Antonio, the tough guy, to be dating someone as sweet as Sylvie was - and vice versa.

"I guess she's one lucky girl this morning, then!" Anna smiled, clicking on her emails to check any that might have come through during the night.

As she was about to click on one, she saw Peter walk into the office out of the corner of her eye. He smiled at her as soon as he saw her, not being able to help himself. He'd gotten her text last night and had really appreciated that she was comfortable enough around him to talk about everything that had happened.

He put a coffee down on her desk as he passed and sent her another small smile. "Figured you'd need one this morning, right?"

She grinned up at him. "You're definitely right about that one, Stone."

* * *

 **A/N: Apologies for this being so short! I'm going to try and lengthen the chapters, but since I've never written these characters before, I'm still getting used to writing them. I hope I've done them justice for this first chapter! Chapters will probably get longer as we get to know the characters better! But I hope you all enjoyed. :)**


	2. Chapter 2 - Somewhere Nice

**A/N: Thank you so much for the kind response on Chapter 1. I'm super excited for you all to read this one. I've been working on it for most of the day. It introduces a new plot point or two and I'm very excited to explore it all! For readers of Fresh Eyes, Chapter 26 should be up tomorrow or the day after!**

* * *

Peter had spent a majority of the day just waiting for Anna to come into his office, but it had been hours since they'd spoken earlier that morning. It had been a slow day working on the case with most of the evidence having already been found and logged in.

Dawson and Nagel had gone out twice - once to look over the building again for any evidence they might have missed and once to get lunch for the office. They'd brought back hot dogs, though, Peter had noted, that Anna didn't eat them. He wasn't sure what she'd eaten for lunch if it wasn't a hot dog.

"We'll be right there," Peter sighed, putting the phone back down.

Trudy Platt over at District 21 had called him to let him know about a witness that was crucial in their case. He'd been found trying to steal money from a gas station.

Peter stood up, grabbing his coat from the coat rack and exiting his office.

"Valdez," he said, walking towards her desk. "We've got something."

Peter drove, as usual. It was his car and Anna didn't seem to mind not having to drive around Chicago. She wasn't as used to the place as Peter was. Their office was a twenty minute drive, with traffic, from District 21.

"Did you get anything at lunch?" He asked.

Anna shook her head. "No, I was going to grab something like a granola bar but something came up and I ended up just staying at my desk."

Peter couldn't help but frown. "I'll stop somewhere on the way back and you can get something. I'll take us somewhere nice. No hot dogs," he grinned.

"You've already eaten, Peter," she pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

Peter shrugged. "I ate a hot dog at 12:30. It's been a few hours and hot dogs aren't that filling. Don't you agree?"

"I wouldn't know, Peter, but sure, whatever you say," she chuckled.

* * *

Peter and Anna were welcomed with open arms into District 21. After what they'd done for Kevin Atwater, everyone seemed to have a little bit more respect towards them. Even if they had taken the beloved Antonio Dawson away.

Trudy nodded at them as they walked in. "He's being questioned by Halstead and Lindsay. You know your way?" She asked.

"Yeah, we're good," Peter confirmed, beginning to make his way there, with Anna behind him. "Thanks, Trudy."

They knew the way to where they were headed pretty well and it didn't take them very long to get there. Anna followed Peter into the room adjoining the one where their witness was being questioned. They could see him through the glass.

Inside, Kevin Atwater and Adam Ruzek stood, watching their colleagues question the witness. "Peter," Kevin nodded as he saw them. "Anna."

Anna smiled up at him. "Were you two the ones who found him?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, we were grabbing lunch for the unit when he came in, luckily. He's crucial in this case you're working, right? Asked us for Peter Stone."

"He's crucial," Peter agreed. "It's lucky the two of you caught him. But, still - he was one of the guys helping us to get the killer into prison. Which judge is going to believe someone who was caught stealing only days before?"

Anna frowned at him. "We have other witnesses though, right? He wasn't the only one we could count on?" She could only hope that Peter would agree.

Peter shook his head and looked down. "We only have one other guy, but his evidence wasn't as good as this guys was. We're screwed, here, Valdez."

"Damn it," Anna sighed, watching Halstead and Lindsay through the glass.

After a few minutes, Halstead and Lindsay joined the four of them inside.

"He hasn't given us much," Erin shrugged. "Just said he was stealing to help out someone but he wouldn't tell us who. Maybe you should give him a go?"

Peter nodded at them. "I'll go in. Anna, let Nagel and Dawson know what's going on and you can come in when you're ready."

He disappeared into the interrogation room. With a smile, Halstead and Lindsay left the room and headed back upstairs to their desks. Adam followed them swiftly, leaving Kevin and Anna alone.

She pulled her phone from her coat pocket and quickly sent a text to Laura and Antonio letting them know what was going on with their witness, as Peter had asked her to.

Anna hadn't even realised that Kevin hadn't left the room - he was watching Peter in the interrogation room with their witness. As she put her phone back in her pocket, she looked up and jumped slightly at seeing him.

"Kevin, I didn't realise you were still here," she chuckled, putting her hands in her pockets to warm them up. Even though it was relatively warm inside, she found this side of the station to be colder.

He cracked a grin. "Sorry, Anna," he smiled. "I was busy watching and listening to those two in there. Plus, if I go back upstairs now Al is going to be on me for not getting him his lunch. Hopefully if I leave it a little while, he will have already slammed Adam for the fault."

Anna couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sure it'll be safe to head up there soon. I don't blame you, though - Antonio and Laura got hot dogs for everyone in the office today, but I don't eat hot dogs. I'm a little bitter, considering Antonio knows I don't eat them."

"Probably slipped his mind - I wouldn't hold a grudge," he shrugged. "Is everything going well over there?"

She nodded back at him. "Yeah, we're all good. Busy with cases, but there's nothing wrong with that. Are you all good? After everything that went down with you?"

Kevin shrugged, but smiled. "I'm over it, mostly. I was shaken up during and after it all went down, but we're all good now," he nodded. "Thanks. For asking."

"No worries," Anna smiled up at him. "I'll talk to you later. Peter probably wants me in there. Good luck dealing with the no food crisis upstairs." She grinned and left the room.

As soon as she walked into the interrogation room and took a seat beside Peter, her mind was on the case and nothing else. They needed to fix this.

* * *

Peter had kept his word.

After finishing up at District 21, he'd driven her to her favourite restaurant. Since they'd started working together, the two of them liked to go out to lunch or dinner together - just to relieve stress after a long day or to work in a calmer place.

Naturally, Anna had chosen a favourite out of the few that they'd been to. The two of them agreed that they wouldn't stay long, though. They were needed back at the office to try and work out an alternative for the trial.

With the arrest of their key witness, they needed to make sure that they still had the upper-hand. Even though they still had one witness, his evidence wasn't nearly as good and it was clear that it could lose them the case.

Anna and Peter tried not to think about it too much as they sat at one of the tables near the front of the restaurant. Anna was happily enjoying her pasta salad and Peter had gone for something small and simple - a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. They were both quick, yet delicious, meals.

"Anything you need to talk about?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows.

He hadn't forgotten that Anna hadn't come by his office today to talk. He'd expected her to, of course. After the text last night and the slow day they were having there weren't many reasons why she shouldn't have stopped in.

Anna looked up at him, her hand over her mouth to cover the mouthful of pasta salad she'd just eaten. She shook her head at him and shrugged before grabbing the glass of water in front of her and taking a sip. "I don't think so."

"What was that text last night for, then?" Peter frowned, crossing his arms and looking sternly at her. It was clear hat he was worried about her, even though it came across that he was really more annoyed than worried.

He didn't miss the flash of memory that crossed her face. She smiled regretfully at him and sat her fork down on her plate. "Oh... that."

"Yes, that," Peter said before taking another bite of his sandwich.

Anna sighed and shrugged. "It wasn't too big of a deal. I kind of forgot all about it this morning," she admitted. "I just got into a bit of a situation last night where I made myself crazy with the thought that I could have been shot too. I panicked about it a little bit, but as soon as I was done I fell asleep."

Peter watched her as she spoke, occasionally nodding at her words. He knew what she meant - it was late when they finished last night, and even later when she got home. She was probably exhausted from work and it was only fair of her to start overthinking at that time of night. He did it himself, sometimes.

"Anna," he began. "Don't stress yourself out about it. It's all in the past now. There's no use worrying over something that you can't change now. I know that you're still dealing with the loss of Ray, but you can't blame yourself or wish you'd done things differently now. It's not fair on yourself."

As they drove back to the office ten minutes later, Peter turned to her while he was stopped at a light and sent her a reassuring smile. "Anna, if you ever need to talk, call me," he started. "I don't care if it's late at night or early in the morning. Just call me."


End file.
